‘Madam said she would throw me off the roof’

National Herald (NH): Can you narrate what exactly happened?

Johra Bibi (JB): I was asked by my employer to come in the afternoon of July 11 and was told that she would pay me my dues. So I went and started doing my work. I washed (or picked up) clothes, did dusting and was washing the utensils when suddenly she came and started threatening me. She said she would bash me, throw me off the roof, put me in a dustbin and what not. Upon hearing all these, I tried to get out of that apartment. It was then I was beaten up for real. My mobile phone was snatched away from me. After a series of threatening abuses, I was locked up inside the flat. She said out of the blue, “Amar Satra hazar rupiya dena aur chala jana (Give me my Rs 17,000 and you are free to go).” I was confined in that house like a prisoner and was not allowed to get out.

NH: Were you beaten up as well?

JB: Yes, madam hit me. I was hurt so bad in my chest that I lost my bearings and it’s difficult to recall every small detail.

NH: Were you given any food or water while you were held inside the flat?

JB: Shakes her head, signalling a clear no.

NH: How did you get free?

JB: When my family members and neighbours went this morning (July 12) and started protesting, I was released and security guards escorted me out.